Effect of early weaning on performance, carcass and meat quality of spring-born bull calves raised in dry mountain areas

Alibés, Mireia Blanco; Ripoll, G.; Albertı́, P.; Sanz, A.; Revilla, R.; Mata, Daniel Villalba; Casasús, I.

doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2007.07.012

Cited by 22 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…In addition, age at weaning and management before the finishing period can influence meat colour. For instance, Blanco et al (2008) found that the meat from animals reared in pastures with their dams (as in our EXT group) had higher L* and b* than did the meat from those had been weaned early in INT production systems. In any case, both production systems produced meat that had a colour that ranged from pale red to pink, which is pleasing for most consumers.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 62%

“…In our study, those differences in n-3 were due to the differences in the proportions of α-linolenic acid (C 18:3 n-3), eicopentaenoic acid (C 20:5 n-3) and C 20:2 n-3, which is similar to the Nuernberg et al (2005), and Humada et al (2012). Blanco et al (2008) did not find significant differences in the fatty acid profiles between the two groups and suggested that a fattening period of six months on the same diet would be sufficient to eliminate any differences in fatty acid profiles. In our study, however, even after 4.8 months on the same INT diet, differences were apparent in the meat from Gascon young bulls reared on either an EXT or an INT production system before the finishing period.…”

Section: Fat Qualitymentioning

confidence: 51%

“…Thus, animals refeeding after a nutritional restriction showed a higher kg of fat in carcass (Cassar-Malek et al, 2004). Although, Blanco et al (2008Blanco et al ( , 2009) did not detect differences in the conformation or fatness scores of calves weaned at different ages. In our study, the conformation scores indicated that the carcass measurements and indexes of the two groups of young bulls did not differ significantly.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…Blanco et al (2008) did not detect differences in those traits between groups that differed in management and age at weaning. The subcutaneous fat from EXT animals had lower L* and higher b* and C* (Table 6) than did the INT animals, which is associated with the accumulation of carotenoids during the breeding period in mountains and meadows (Del Campo et al, 2008) because of the high concentrations of pigments in fresh pastures.…”

Section: Fat Qualitymentioning

confidence: 63%

“…Very few studies have assessed the effects of production systems before the finishing period, even though production systems are varied and complex, including mainly the influence of the origin of the animals, age at weaning, diet and management before the fattening period. In this sense, Blanco et al (2008Blanco et al ( , 2009) studied the effects of early weaning on performance, carcass and meat quality, and Pordomingo et al (2012) examined the feed backgrounding phase in cattle finished on pasture. Then, the objectives of this study were to assess the effect of production system before the finishing period on bovine productive characteristics and carcass, meat and fat quality in intensively finished cattle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of production system before the finishing period on carcass, meat and fat qualities of beef

Guerrero

Albertı́

Ripoll

et al. 2013

Animal

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Twenty Gascon young bulls that had been reared either in intensive conditions (INT) (n = 10) with early weaning at 3 to 4 months, or in a traditional extensive (EXT) system (n = 10) with weaning at 7 months, were subjected to the same conditions during the 145-day finishing period. Production system before the finishing period did not affect conformation, dressing percentage or morphology of the carcass; nevertheless, tissue composition differed somewhat between the two groups. Display had a stronger effect on meat colour than did production system. Percentage of myoglobin was highest in INT (P ⩽ 0.001), although meat texture and sensory quality did not differ between rearing conditions. EXT animals had darker, more yellow fat, a higher percentage of n-3 fatty acids (P ⩽ 0.001), a lower percentage of saturated fatty acids (P ⩽ 0.05) and a lower n-6/n-3 index (P ⩽ 0.001) than did the INT-reared animals. Production system before the fattening period might modify some of the characteristics of commercial beef, especially those associated with fat.Keywords: Gascon breed, beef cattle, colour, panel test, fatty acids ImplicationsThe effect of background before the entrance in a feedlot on meat quality in beef has been hardly studied for the literature available on this topic is very scarce, especially when the productive life of the animals is considered as a whole and animals are fed a common finishing diet. Our results show new information and complement the existent helping to understand the possible influence of the previous fattening production system, as grazing at an early stage provokes certain distinctive characteristics that are kept even after several months of concentrate feeding.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 62%

Section: Fat Qualitymentioning

confidence: 51%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Fat Qualitymentioning

confidence: 63%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of production system before the finishing period on carcass, meat and fat qualities of beef

Guerrero

Albertı́

Ripoll

et al. 2013

Animal

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Can traditional management practices help mountain livestock farms in the Spanish Pyrenees cope with climate change?

Muñoz-Ulecia,

Martín-Collado,

Bernués

et al. 2024

Reg Environ Change

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Livestock grazing systems constitute a traditional activity in mountain areas. They are adapted to vegetation growth cycles in meadows, forests and grasslands, and deliver ecosystem services such as open landscapes, wildfires prevention, biodiversity maintenance and quality products. Climate change poses a new challenge on mountain grazing systems by impacting on its natural resource base. We used the model NODRIZA to evaluate the potential impact of three scenarios of altered pasture quality and quantity due to climate change (optimistic, medium and worst) and a business-as-usual scenario (BAU) on four beef farms representative of the existing grazing systems in the Spanish Pyrenees. We explored the role of traditional management practices (e.g. modifying the grazing season and early weaning) to cope with these changes. Cow body condition score, feed self-sufficiency and gross margin were the indicators of farms functioning. The optimistic scenario improved all farming indicators during most of the modelled period and then declined—still above BAU levels—in the long term. The medium scenario resulted in an initial improvement of farming indicators and a decline to BAU levels in the long run. The worst scenario declined all indicators below BAU levels. The four case studies were impacted in the same direction but to different extent, farms oriented to fattened calves suffered higher impacts than those focused on weaned calves. Traditional adaptation actions succeeded to maintain cow body condition score steady, but they came at the expense of lower feed self-sufficiency and gross margin, becoming impractical to face climate change.

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Effects of early weaning and breed on calf performance and carcass and meat quality in autumn-born bull calves

et al. 2009

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Effect of early weaning on performance, carcass and meat quality of spring-born bull calves raised in dry mountain areas

Cited by 22 publications

References 35 publications

Effect of production system before the finishing period on carcass, meat and fat qualities of beef

Effect of production system before the finishing period on carcass, meat and fat qualities of beef

Can traditional management practices help mountain livestock farms in the Spanish Pyrenees cope with climate change?

Effects of early weaning and breed on calf performance and carcass and meat quality in autumn-born bull calves

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